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Monday, February 7, 2011

Facts About Goseck Circle - strangefacts

One of the most mysterious landmarks in the Germany is the Goseck Circle

The Goseck circle is a Neolithic structure in Goseck in the Burgenlandkreis district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It consists of a set of Concentric ditches 75 meters across and two Palisade rings containing gates in defined places

It is considered the earliest Sun Observatory currently known in the world. Interpretations of the ring suggest that European Neolithic and Bronze Age people measured the heavens far earlier and more accurately than historians have thought

It is monument made out of earth, gravel, and wooden palisades that is regarded as the earliest example of a primitive “solar observatory”

The circle at Goseck is one of more than 250 ring-ditches in Germany, Austria and Croatia identified by aerial surveys, though archaeologists have investigated barely 10 of them

The circle consists of a series of circular ditches surrounded by palisade walls (which have since been reconstructed) that house a raised mound of dirt in the center

The palisades have three openings, or gates, that point southeast, southwest, and north

It is believed that the monument was built around 4900 BC by Neolithic peoples, and that the three openings correspond to the direction from which the sun rises on the winter solstice

The monument’s careful construction has led many scientists to believe that the Goseck Circle was built to serve as some kind of primitive solar or lunar calendar, but its exact use is still a source of debate

Evidence has shown that a so-called “solar cult” was widespread in ancient Europe

This has led to speculation that the Circle was used in some kind of ritual, perhaps even in conjunction with human sacrifice

This hypothesis has yet to be proven, but archeologists have uncovered several human bones, including a headless skeleton, just outside the palisade walls